Current research and past twin studies, where twins have the same genes but different environments, implicate environmental exposures and gene-environment interaction in the development of autism, Ferullo said. "Developing fetuses, young children, and their parents are exposed to many more chemicals than in the 1970s when the Toxic Substances Control Act became law," she said. "Today, to a mother carrying BPA, mercury, phthalates, and brominated flame retardants, is born a baby with 200 contaminmants already in its cord blood," said Ferullo. "The developing brain is exquisitely sensitive to environmental exposures from conception through childhood." A new study of products designed for newborns, babies and toddlers, including car seats, breastfeeding pillows, changing pads and other items made with polyurethane foam, found that 80 percent of products tested contained chemical flame retardants that are considered toxic. The peer-reviewed study was published in May in the "Environmental Science & Technology Journal." Four products contained penta-BDE, a substance so toxic it is banned in 172 countries and 12 U.S. states, and is subject to a national phaseout. Fourteen products contained TCEP, a carcinogenic flame retardant on California's Proposition 65 list of cancer-causing chemicals. Other detected retardants had so little health and safety data on them that their effects are currently unknown. The study found that the same flame retardants are also in children's bodies and widely dispersed throughout the environment and in food.
"We know that little people tend to bite, lick, mouth, wet and fully experience these products, and absorb more potentially toxic chemicals than adults by both habits and percentage of small body weight," said Ferullo. "For example, a wet mattress sends an entirely new combination of untested vapors into a small, vulnerable system. Frequent and multiple exposures to chemicals, combined with an inadequate detoxification pathway, do not ensure healthy development of the brain and immune system," she said. Irva Hertz-Piccotto, PhD, chief of the Division of Environmental Health at University of California, Davis and a faculty member at the Mind Institute, said because the fetus responds to hormones from the mother, researchers need to look to endocrine-disrupting chemicals for causes of autism. She, too, pointed a finger at PBDEs, the flame retardants used in consumer products. "Most are banned now, but because they are persistent in the environment and in the body, they still interfere with healthy development," she said. Bisphenol A, a plasticizer in food packaging, water bottles and can linings, as well as antimicrobials added to soaps, towels, toothpastes and socks could potentially play a role in autism or other disorders," Hertz-Piccotto warned. "We are at the beginnings of understanding," she said, explaining that the entire of scientific community was "derailed by blame-the-parent publications in the 1960s. This has set us back." Suruchi Chandra, MD, is a psychiatrist at the True Health Medical Center in Naperville, Illinois, where she guides families through the different biomedical interventions for autism and related disorders. She said doctors "don't even consider influence of environmental toxins" because they have no training in this field.
Autism could be due to prolonged exposure over years to many toxins, she said. "There is no simple way of measuring this." "I teach parents to avoid exposure to toxics, to avoid high pesticide foods, to use nontoxic cleaners. These strategies can be beneficial but they place these overstressed families in the position where they have to be hypervigilant." "There is only so much parents can do," Chandra said. "Even if home is free of toxins, the child goes to school where toxins are. This points to the need for improved policies that regulate chemicals." Lisa Huguenin, PhD, knows this from her experience as the mother of a nine-year-old boy with autism. Huguenin has a doctorate in environmental science/exposure measurement and assessment from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She has worked at the state and federal levels in the area of occupational exposure to toxic chemicals and has taught college level classes on the subject. "If I, a person well educated about human exposure to chemicals, still have questions and worry about the safety of products I buy every day," said Huguenin, so does the ordinary person." "There is no reason a chemical that goes into a children's product can be marketed without being tested," she said. "It costs $3 million to raise a child with autism as compared with a cost of $300,000 to raise a typical child," said Huguenin. "It's time to stop field testing chemcials on one of our most vulnerable populations - children." Reform the Toxic Substances Control Act now, she urged, saying, "Every passing moment means another child might have to suffer, like my son Harrison."
Since 1976 when the Toxic Substances Control Act was enacted, very little data has been collected on the effects of most chemicals used widely in everyday products on the developing nervous system. For most of the 3,000 chemicals produced in highest volume, over one million pounds per year, only 12 have been adequately tested for neurotoxicity. Andy Igrejas, national campaign director with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, said the pending Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, introduced earlier this year by New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, could help alleviate autism and other serious health problems. Igrejas said the relevant chairmen in the House, Republicans Fred Upton, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Environment and chair of the Economy Subcommittee John Shimkus, said they are "open to reforming" the chemicals law. The bill would require most chemicals to be given a basic level of health and safety screening by the U.S. EPA and the information recorded in a publicly available database. The agency would rely on recommendations made by the National Science Academy in 2008, which called for assessment of cumulative exposure to different chemicals that all impact the brain. "We have 84,000 chemicals in commerce and only five have been restricted," Igrejas said. He sees a groundswell of public opinion building in favor of better legislation governing chemical testing. "There's momentum and legitimacy behind the need for reform nationally," he told reporters on the teleconference. Eighteen states have enacted 78 different laws restricting chemicals in some way, Igrejas explained. In addition, 280 organizations in the coalition's campaign, the American Assocation of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and other professional organizations have called for reform. Copyright Environment News Service,ENS, 2011. All rights reserved. You get what your vegetables drinkMany may be surprised by what they might find in the water they use for their gardensBy Mechele Cooper mcooper@centralmaine.com
Denis Thoet tests his well every year for bacteria.
click image to enlarge
Alice Elliott, left, and her husband Dan Tompkins talk about herbs and greens growing in the hoop house recently in the backyard of their Richmond home. Staff photo by Joe Phelan click image to enlarge
Alice Elliott has lettuce, greens and herbs growing in the hoop house in the backyard of her Richmond home. Staff photo by Joe Phelan Select images available for purchase in the
But the West Gardiner vegetable farmer said he never thought to check for arsenic or uranium, known carcinogens. An estimated 11 percent of Maine homes with private wells have high levels of arsenic above current health benchmarks, as many as 20 percent have elevated radon levels and an estimated 4 percent have elevated uranium levels, according to state statistics. And while the state has a robust safety program for public water supplies, there are no regulations for these substances in private wells. That has some of the more environmentally sensitive gardeners questioning what they're putting on their plants. "I suppose it's a potential area to have tested for irrigation water," Thoet said. "We have a pond we do part of our irrigation from, and want to use it for more of that. It's a combination of runoff water and spring water. "We haven't tested that for anything yet. There's usually some kind of bacteria from general runoff that's fine for irrigation water but not for human consumption." In elevated levels, arsenic has been linked to certain types of cancers, childhood learning disabilities, heart disease and low birth rates. Uranium can affect the kidneys, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just how much of those contaminants are absorbed by plants we eat? And how much plant-based uranium and arsenic is safe to consume? Bruce Stanton, director of the Center for the Environmental Health Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School, said one in 10 of Maine's private wells has levels of arsenic higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant limit, 10 micrograms per liter. Stanton said there are wells in Maine with arsenic levels as high as 5,000 parts per billion and that it is not uncommon to find wells with levels exceeding 100 parts per billion. He said a good example of a food that absorbs arsenic is rice. "Rice cereals and biscuits have levels of inorganic arsenic which could easily be consumed in doses well above that found in drinking water," Stanton said. Toxin levels in one cup of rice -- a grain used as a base in processed foods -- are equivalent to that found in one liter of water contaminated with 10 parts per billion of arsenic, he said. He said any "pesticide-free" claim on containers "lulls the consumer into a false sense of security about the product's safety." "Some people on special diets drink rice milk," he said. "Rice milk has been measured at 50 parts per billion." Andrew Smith, state toxicologist, said he relies on a greenhouse study from the mid 1990s that measures the amounts of arsenic a plant takes up from contaminated water. Smith said John Jemison, a cooperative extension water quality and soil specialist, grew vegetables in a greenhouse and used water with different levels of arsenic concentrations. He said Jemison used concentrations of 5, 50, 500 and 5,000 parts per billion. "We've actually seen 5,000 parts per billion in Maine and clearly at 5,000 he was seeing moderate increases in Swiss chard and beet roots," Smith said. "At 500, he got a little bit in deep roots; and at 5 and 50, he couldn't detect any increases. "So if we're dealing with someone who has 500, we suggest caution when using water for gardens. This just reinforces the importance of testing well water." Smith said a study by A.C. Hakonson-Hayes and associates assessed the risks from exposure to uranium in well water. The study looked at irrigating plants with water containing high uranium concentrations. Over 1,200 micrograms per liter was the highest. "They used lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and squash and could see: as the concentrations increased, the concentration in the crops increased," he said. Jemison said vegetation absorbs larger amounts of uranium than arsenic, with the roots of plants and leafy vegetables absorbing the most. "The (Center for Disease Control) folks said the uranium you consume via vegetables out of your garden is small relative to what you might find in drinking water," he said. "The uptake in greens or radishes is not going to be very much. If somebody is still concerned and just don't want to eat small amounts of uranium, we have other options for them. Collect water in rain barrels and use the water to water your plants. Or they can do drip irrigation off of those barrels." Alice Elliott, a master gardener from Richmond, said a rainwater collection system is a safe way to water your garden. It can be as simple as a rain barrel at the end of a downspout. "If you set up a rain barrel, that catches water off your roof. The quality of that roof water will pretty good," Elliott said. Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, agreed. "Of course, now we're dealing with detectable amounts of (radiation) flying all around the world, so there's no perfect thing," Libby said. "I've been using rain barrels for decades. I have a metal roof and get more water than I can use." Radioactive rain from the Japanese nuclear disaster has been detected in Massachusetts' drinking water supply. The University of Maine, which is part of a nationwide network that monitors radiation, has also found trace amounts in Maine. Libby said most large-scale organic farmers get their water from farm ponds, not wells. Pumping water from a well is an expensive way to grow vegetables, he said. Joseph Graziano of Colombia University said last year third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in Maine towns including Monmouth, Hallowell, Farmingdale, Manchester, Readfield and Wayne took part in a study by Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire tracking the effects of arsenic on children. He said the results, which won't be known for another year, will help researchers better understand what levels of arsenic are safe in well water in Maine and in other parts of the world where contamination is much worse, such as Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 77 million people -- more than half the population -- have been exposed to dangerous levels of arsenic in the groundwater. A study done by the Applied Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh found garden vegetables grown in arsenic-tainted soil may uptake and accumulate significant amounts of arsenic in their tissue. Smith said more people need to test their wells for contaminants that pose a health risk. Since 2009, only 42 percent of Maine's private wells have been tested for arsenic, he said. Water sample kits are available at Maine's Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory in Augusta and independent testing laboratories. A list can be found at http://wellwater.maine.gov/. "It's good to know this information and we at the extension are available to help talk people through water treatment options and drinking water systems," Jemison said. "We want people to test their water." Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, ext. 408 mcooper@centralmaine.com
Harm From Mercury Passes Down Through Generations
Ecotoxicology: Maternal and dietary exposures in American toads have lethal effects when combined
Shutterstock American toads struggle to survive a double whammy of mercury exposure.
Traditional ecotoxicology studies that probe one toxic exposure at a time may consistently underestimate real-world hazards. That's the conclusion of researchers who studied the effects on tadpoles of mercury passed from a mother's tissues to her eggs and of mercury in the tadpoles' diet. The effects were synergistic and deadly: Only tadpoles exposed to both sources of mercury died off in large numbers (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI:10.1021/es104210a). Scientists who study how contaminants affect juvenile development in birds, fish, and amphibians typically look at just one of two exposure routes: contaminant transfer from mother to eggs or environmental exposure from water or diet. "Both routes are usually tested in isolation even though they often coincide in nature," says William Hopkins, an associate professor of fish and wildlife conservation at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Scientists had found that juvenile American toads exposed to mercury by either route can suffer sublethal consequences. To combine exposures, Hopkins,Christine Bergeron, and their colleagues collected toads from a mercury-contaminated river near Waynesboro, Va. In the laboratory, they divided eggs harvested from breeding pairs into two groups: a non-contaminated reference group and a contaminated group. Hatchlings from each group then ate clean control diets or diets treated with mercury at one of two concentrations, each no higher than what's ordinarily measured in Waynesboro, Hopkins says. The researchers then looked at the two exposure routes individually. Tadpoles hatched from contaminated eggs suffered more toxicity than did tadpoles that hatched from clean eggs but ate mercury-spiked food. The maternally exposed tadpoles swam more slowly and took a longer time to develop into adult toads. But the combined effect was lethal at the higher dietary concentration to tadpoles from contaminated eggs. These animals experienced 50% greater mortality compared to tadpoles hatched from clean eggs that ate clean food. Hopkins says he doesn't know how the two routes interact to produce synergistic effects. The two routes of exposure cause different sublethal effects, he says. "That suggests they act on different physiological processes, or that the timing of exposure is influential with respect to outcome," he says. "But the net result of these multiple disruptions is mortality." Jason Rohr, an assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, says that this could be the first study to combine these routes of exposure in amphibians. But Rohr cautions that in the real world, the results apply only to situations where the dual exposures occur. And that varies, he adds, according to species mobility: In some species, offspring may move away from where their mother laid eggs, and toward or away from contaminants. "This is a great foundational study but it's just a beginning," Rohr says. "We need to see if the results hold up with other species and other chemicals." The Electric Car Strikes Back?Chris Paine, director of Revenge of the Electric CarImages courtesy of the filmmakers The director of Who Killed the Electric Car? on his new film, his personal fleet, and why he thinks EVs are ready to rise from the dead. — By Kiera Butler Mon May. 2, 2011 2:30 AM PDT
Back in 2006, the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? revealed how various industry players—including petroleum companies and car manufacturers themselves—conspired to sabotage the launch of the first electric vehicles. But shortly after the film was released, its director, Chris Paine, began to hear rumblings of an electric car comeback. "I started an email correspondence with GM," recalls Paine. "I said, 'we thought you had a great car and we were upset that you killed it. But if you're going to do it right, I'm going to tell the story, since it's not often that companies change their minds on big decisions like that.'" Sure enough, a few years later the next wave of electric cars have hit the market—and Paine's sequel, Revenge of the Electric Car, tells the story of what happened. I spoke to Paine shortly after his film's Earth Day premiere. Mother Jones: What's changed since Who Killed the Electric Car? Chris Paine: There was a lot of blowback after the first programs were killed. Consumers were saying, 'If we have to have cars, why are only bad cars available? Why do we have to rely on the Middle East?' So the right and the left came around—afor security reasons and environmental reasons—and then the car industry itself, which realized no one was buying cars when gas hit $4 a gallon in 2008. And here we are in 2011, with gas prices going nowhere but up, and there is a serious international consensus that you have to have higher miles-per-gallon cars. MJ: Are oil companies still trying to interfere with electric cars? CP: I'm sure the gasoline companies would still love to keep their 100 percent monopoly on transportation fuel. But what's changed since then is the fact that almost all the refineries in the US are at 100 percent production right now. They can't even keep up with demands for gasoline. So the last thing they want is to be caught driving up prices while at the same time they are publicly coming down, like they did last time on electric cars. So I think they're staying out of the way this time. I don't know what's happening behind the scenes, but they're not running ads against electric cars or claiming they're unsafe like they did last time. MJ: Can electric cars save Detroit? CP: I think electric cars can help save Detroit. They reflect good decision-making, and there has been bad decision making in the auto industry for so long, in my view. In the course of filming Revenge of the Electric Car I became a little more sympathetic to the car industry in terms the way it impacts the global economy. Not just in Detroit in the obvious ways, but the workers in this industry all around the world. Also, lots of things that progressives like, like the show The West Wing, were largely supported by car advertising. This stuff went away when Detroit started to go under. MJ: But what about batteries? Aren't people still nervous that electric cars can't go far enough? CP: I like to take folks back to the turn of the century when people said 'gas cars can never replace horses because you can feed horses at your house, you get along with them, they're nice.' Well the same thing is true today. Obviously the horse can still do things that the gas car can never do, and the gas car will always be able to do things the electric car can't do. But they have really different uses and advantages. MJ: Sure electric cars are greener than gas cars in states that use lots of renewable energy. But what about in coal states? CP: There are studies that show that EVs still result in overall savings on energy and emissions, even in coal states. Plus, what oil companies don't want you to know is that refineries use a huge amount of electricity in refining gasoline. And that's usually not even figured into reports about gas cars' overall energy use. MJ: How much of the electric cars push is just car companies greenwashing? CP: In the case of all the carmakers, there's a certain amount of greenwash. Take Toyota: They were pushing the Prius while they were meanwhile marketing the hell out of the Sequoia and other models with terrible gas mileage. And they were using the Prius to trade off on their emissions standards. All these guys use the environmental car to greenwash the rest of the label. But the reality is that this is actually where we should be going. And if these cars gain traction, they'll start making money on them. And instead of making their margins on the SUVs, they'll start making those margins on electric cars, and that will become their bread and butter. MJ: Do you think China will beat the US in the race to develop the best electric car technology? CP: I think China is set up to surpass the US on the even more critical industry of green power. Thomas Friedman says it's not red China anymore, it's green China. And not because they care about the environment necessarily, but because they want to dominate this industry where they see everything going to once they hit peak oil. They hope we waste a lot of time arguing about whether global warming is man-made or not, because every day we waste time they get another day ahead with windmills and solar panels and electric cars and charging infrastructure. Our electric cars are still better. They're much better than China's BYD. I think the US has an arguable advantage right now in this area and I hope we can keep it. MJ: Of the electric cars currently on the market, which do you think is the best? CP: Really they're all for different purposes. I bought one of each of these cars at full market price. My girlfriend primarily drives the Leaf. It's a high-riding car—makes you feel like you're almost in a mini SUV. It's much roomier than I expected. I traded my Prius in to get a Volt. I was most skeptical of the Volt, and I've probably also been the most impressed by it. When the doors shut you feel like you're in a submarine. It's very well insulated. MJ: What are the biggest challenges for electric cars? CP: We're still in the midst of a recession. There are not a ton of people buying cars—cars are expensive. So people usually go for the cheapest car they can get. And if the price of gasoline falls again, it makes the savings that you get with an electric car harder to realize. Low gas prices could really delay this. The other thing that could delay it is people not wanting to take a chance on changing what they think of as a car. Resistance to change is always the biggest obstacle. MJ: What's your next project? CP: We just launched it—it's called CounterSpill. We're taking on the biggest non-renewable energy disasters in the world and keeping them on the front page rather than buried in the news cycle or the corporate spin cycle. Oil companies earned a permanent enemy in me when they messed with the electric car the first time around, and I think they continue to do a disservice in making it seem like fossil fuels are cheaper than they really are in terms of total cost. We want to point out that solar, for example—which has typically been thought of as so expensive—is cheap when compared with, for example, the cost of cleaning up the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Gulf. Got a burning eco-quandary? Submit it to econundrums@motherjones.com. Get all your green questions answered by visiting Econundrums on Facebook here.
Soils Of Northern U.S. Forests Are High In MercuryPollution: Carbon-rich northern soil may sequester the toxic metalSara Peach
TOXIC METAL Slow decomposition of plant matter in cool northern forests may foster mercury accumulation.
The carbon-rich soils in northern U.S. forests contain up to 16 times as much mercury as do soils in southern forests, according to a new study conducted in 10 states (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es104384m). Between 5,000 and 8,000 tons of mercury, a toxic metal, enter the atmosphere annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. While natural sources, such as volcanoes, emit some of the mercury, much of it originates from industrial sources, such as coal-burning power plants. Some of the mercury settles in forests, where trees, leaf litter, and soil absorb it. Anthropogenic mercury has accumulated in forests since the Industrial Revolution. As a result, scientists suspect that globally, forests could store tens to hundreds of thousands of tons of the metal, says the study's lead author,Daniel Obrist, an associate research professor at the Desert Research Institute, the environmental research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. But researchers know little about the geographical distribution of those mercury deposits, Obrist says. Nor do they have a clear understanding of whether a warming climate could cause that mercury to cycle more quickly into the atmosphere. Scientists want to understand mercury's fate because it can wash from the atmosphere or from forest floors to water bodies, where it can accumulate in the aquatic food chain. So Obrist's team conducted a systematic inventory of mercury concentrations in 14 forests across the continental U.S. They collected 12 soil samples from each forest. In the lab, the researchers freeze-dried and milled the samples. Then, they analyzed the samples' mercury and carbon concentrations. The researchers found that, in general, soils at higher latitudes contained more mercury than those at lower latitudes. For example, mercury concentrations were an average of 16 times higher in soil samples collected from a forest in Howland, Maine, than they were in samples from Gainesville, Fla. The researchers think that the low latitudes' greater sun exposure, which can cause mercury evaporation, shortens the metal's lifetime in southern soils and could drive migration of the metal from south to north. Greater mercury concentrations also correlated with higher carbon content, likely because mercury often binds to organic molecules, Obrist says. High carbon levels may help explain why northern forest soils contain more mercury, he says. In cool climates, organic matter decomposes slowly, which may enable mercury to accumulate in the soil, he says. But climate change could disrupt this pattern, says Sue Natali, a postdoctoral fellow in the biology department at theUniversity of Florida. Rising temperatures could speed decomposition rates, leading mercury to escape to the atmosphere and to eventually pollute water bodies. That process could be a particular concern at northern latitudes, which are warming more quickly than the rest of the globe, Obrist says. Research on this question should continue, he says: "We have very, very little experimental data that shows what actually happens with mercury if we lose the carbon."
Officials in Japan have repeatedly said radiation levels in its food supply do not pose a risk to human health. And officials in the US said North Pacific fish are so unlikely to be contaminated by radioactive material from the crippled nuclear plant in Japan that there's no reason to test them.
Guests: Elizabeth Grossman, -Author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health, and other books. William Burnett, -The Carl Henry Oppenheimer Professor of Oceanography, Department of Oceanography, Florida State University. Dr. Henrieta Dulaiova, -Assistant Professor, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Hawaii. Hour 1 Hour 2 http://english.cri.cn/8706/2011/04/19/2861s632833.htm
An Emerging Pollutant Circles The Globe
Many personal care products such as deodorants, shampoo, conditioner, cosmetics, and lotions owe their quick-drying, silky feel to ingredients known as cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS). But the compounds are currently under regulatory scrutiny in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. because scientists think they may persist and bioaccumulate in the environment. Although researchers have previously measured the presence of cVMS at several sites, a team of regulatory, academic, and industry researchers now reports the first global-scale study of cVMS distribution in air (Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI: 10.1021/es200301j. It found the compounds in 20 sites around the world, including pristine Arctic environments and industrial areas in the U.S. Northeast. One of the cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes, D5, appears in high levels in the eastern U.S. and Europe.
The team, led by Tom Harner, a senior research scientist at Environment Canada, measured the presence of four kinds of cVMS: D3, D4, D5, and D6, which stand for hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane, respectively. Harner's team found cVMS to be "widespread globally," he says. The compounds are "present at relatively high air concentrations compared to other classes of air contaminants such as persistent organic pollutants," he adds, "including polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides." The researchers also found that concentrations of all four cVMS were not geographically uniform. They measured high concentrations of D3 and D4 on the West Coast of North America. Harner suspects these chemicals potentially come from industrial Asian sources such as China and travel across the Pacific in air streams. The team found high levels of D5 and D6 in urban areas in the eastern U.S. and Europe, which are "most likely due to personal care product use," he says. Whether the presence of these chemicals causes problems in the environment is hotly debated. Studies have reached opposing conclusions about potential health effects for aquatic wildlife such as fish. An industry association, theSilicones Environmental, Health and Safety Council of North America, argues in an online position paperthat "siloxanes do not pose a risk to human health or the environment." The study's finding of the extensive presence of cVMS in the air around the world was no surprise, comments Nicholas Warner, an environmental scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research's Polar Environmental Centre, in Tromsø, because computer modeling of global concentrations had predicted it. However, he appreciates the agreement between data and models because it raises confidence in recently developed models of how these emerging pollutants move around the world. The models required new algorithms to accommodate unusual properties of vCMS: their rapid evaporation and extreme hydrophobicity. Although 90% of all cVMS emissions end up in the air, hydroxyl radicals quickly break down the molecules to silanols, Warner says. Compared to vCMS, the silanol break-down products "are less volatile and therefore more likely to be deposited to surfaces from air," Harner says. His team argues for research into possible environmental impacts of silanols. The remaining 10% of cVMS emissions end up in water systems, likely from personal care products flushed down the drain. Most of the concerns about the environmental impacts of cVMS stem from the water-based cVMS rather than the air-based cVMS, Warner explains. A recent study reported cVMS levels in watersheds. Measuring cVMS concentrations without contaminating samples is challenging because the molecules exist in in silicon-based lab equipment as well as in a potpourri of personal care products used by researchers handling study samples. Some researchers go to great lengths to avoid sample contamination, such as eschewing all personal care products while in the field. Warner notes that Harner's team adsorbed cVMS on polyurethane foam disks, which are known to contain cVMS. The team did preclean the equipment to remove possible contaminating cVMS, but Warner would like to see proof that there was no sample contamination. If the Environment Canada team's precleaning method successfully removes all cVMS, Warner says, it would be a great tool for further field work.
Environmental Toxins and Fertility - Why One Group Is Leading the Way
NEW YORK, March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With Earth Day right around the corner, The American Fertility Association (The AFA), a national, non-profit, family-building organization, has positioned itself as a leader in creating a greener world for all those trying to conceive. There's mounting evidence that numerous environmental factors may have an effect on fertility and on the health of developing fetuses. We have advanced this conversation within the world of reproductive medicine, and our commitment to raising awareness about it continues today. The AFA is one of the leading voices on environmental toxicity and reproductive health. We have published an innovative informational fact sheet titled, "The Dirty Dozen" (http://www.theafa.org/blog_images/Dirty_Dozen.pdf), which outlines the top twelve chemicals that both men and women should avoid to help increase their ability to conceive a child. Our Infertility Prevention Handbook (http://www.theafa.org/blog_images/MM_EDUCATION_2011.pdf) further highlights the possible negative effects of environmental toxins while also discussing other challenges, such as the biological clock and STI's. In addition, The AFA has spoken at numerous college campuses and at special events in restaurants and nail salons around the country in an effort to increase people's knowledge about environmental toxins and infertility prevention. The AFA has published over 50 blogs on this topic, and is excited to now work with a cutting edge authority on reproductive health and environmental toxins. We're thrilled to announce that Karin Russ, MS, RN, who is the National Coordinator, Fertility and Reproductive Health Working Group with Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), has recently become an AFA blogger. Environmental toxins affect more than just fertility. Recently, experts at a United Nations meeting called for action to address preventable environmental and occupational causes of cancer which are responsible for 1.3 million deaths each year. The AFA urges the owners of factories and businesses, both large and small, to make the changes needed to protect both their workers and the health of the general public. This includes the greening of chemically laden nail salons, which can be a "toxic soup" environment for salon workers. "The AFA is proud to be a thought leader in this arena, and looks forward to definitive answers being realized," says Ken Mosesian, Executive Director of The AFA. Mosesian continues, "We recognize that more research is urgently needed." About The AFA The American Fertility Association, a 501 (c) (3) national non-profit organization, is a lifetime resource for infertility prevention, reproductive health and family building. The AFA's services and materials are provided free of charge to consumers and are available to everyone without reservation. These include an extensive online library, a daily blog, telephone and in-person coaching, a resource directory, daily fertility news, a toll-free support line, and education outreach events. Media Contact:
Radioactive particles arriving in the Bay Area, but pose no risk, say scientists and health officialshttp://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_17637607?nclick_check=1
Fort Bragg Infant Death Toll May Climb to Twelve
By Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, and Aaron Kessler, Sarasota Herald-Tribune March 8, 2011, 10:31 pm Ft. Bragg, North Carolina (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
March 9, 2011: This article has been corrected. [1] A 12th infant apparently has died of undetermined causes in military housing at Fort Bragg, N.C., and investigators are now trying to determine whether the death is linked to fumes from contaminated drywall or some other environmental problem in the home.
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Stories in this series are co-published with Sarasota Herald Tribune. Do You Have Tainted Drywall?Are you dealing with tainted drywall? Is it causing health problems, or damage to your home? If so, we at ProPublica want to hear your story Last month, federal officials declared that 11 earlier infant deaths were not caused by environmental contaminants, but they did not suggest any alternative causes. Four-and-a-half-month-old Jaxson Garza died on Feb. 24. His parents, Sgt. Armando Garza and his wife Brittany, both 26, were moved to a guest house on the base later that day. Brittany Garza later learned that her home was being tested for defective drywall and other environmental problems. The Garzas, who have three other children, are still waiting for the final results of Jaxson’s autopsy. Brittany Garza said she recently spoke with the pathologist from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, Md., who performed the autopsy. She said he told her that, so far, he hadn’t been able to find a cause for Jaxson’s death. “He said there is no external trauma. He [Jaxson] appeared to be a healthy baby and he didn’t expect to find any internal trauma,” Brittany Garza said. An AFIP spokesman said the institute wouldn’t comment on a pending autopsy. Ben Abel, a spokesman for Fort Bragg, said Jaxson’s autopsy will be factored into the military’s investigation of the infant deaths. “As was stated all along throughout the entirety of this process … housing here is safe,” Abel said. “Our concern right now is that the Garza family is well cared for.” Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, known as CID, said that at this point Jaxson’s death is being investigated independent of the other infant death investigations at Fort Bragg. “Of course CID is looking at this death very closely to determine if there are any similarities with the other undetermined death cases,” Grey said. “At this time we have no information or evidence to link this death to any other infant deaths, nor do we have any information or evidence that the other deaths under review are linked to any environmental cause.” Ft. Bragg's Garrison Commander, Col. Stephen J. Sicinski, said he is confident that the homes are safe. He suggested that the deaths could have been caused by factors that neither the military, nor the CPSC can control. “There could be many, many things that affect the lifestyle of the family and the conditions of the home that aren’t part of the structure,” Sicinski said. “If you follow what I’m saying, there are a lot of things that can go into the general welfare and the health of children in a home in a family environment that we cannot affect and we will not affect, we are not going to be the thought police. This is America--everybody has a right to privacy.” Three Deaths in a Single House The first unexplained infant death at Fort Bragg occurred in February 2007. Three children from three different families died in a single home. David M. Abramson, a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and director of research for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, said that such a situation is extremely unusual. “The odds of three babies dying in a short order in the same house without an underlying condition of some sort, it’s very unlikely. It’s enormously unlikely,” Abramson said. “Common sense would dictate there’s something common in the environmental exposure.” The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the lead agency in the federal government’s two-year investigation of tainted drywall, has examined the 11 infant deaths and last month ruled out environmental causes. But the CPSC’s investigation has been criticized by drywall experts, who say that the test the agency used –known as an elemental sulfur test—doesn’t actually measure the amount of sulfur gasses coming off the board. They said that another test, known as a chamber test, should have been used. “The idea that they are skating around this and not doing the obvious measurement is very troubling,” Michael Shaw, vice president of Interscan Corp. and a member of a voluntary standards committee for drywall manufacturers told ProPublica and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune last month after the CPSC study was released. “If you want to see what’s wrong with the drywall, you test the drywall. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that when you’re trying to address how much the drywall is off-gassing.” Parents of the deceased infants don’t understand why the CPSC didn’t use the more reliable test, or why the agency tested samples from only two of the homes where the deaths occurred. “I felt betrayed, honestly. I trusted the CPSC as an independent agency to bring the truth out and clearly that didn’t happen” said Spc. Nathanael Duke, whose son, Gabriel, died in March 2010. “Anybody with experience with Chinese or tainted American drywall knows from the way they tested the board that they are worried about something. They still refuse to do any chamber testing and as far as I know that is the only thing that could confirm or deny the presence of problem drywall.” ‘The Nightmare Just Got Worse’ The Garzas said they had problems with mold and leaks in and outside their home soon after they moved into it in February 2010. For help, they called Picerne Military Housing, the private company that builds and maintains housing at Fort Bragg. “I complained about what turned out to be mold on the outside of the house the day we did our walk-through, and Picerne assured me that it would be cleaned up after we moved in,” Brittany Garza said. The mold was never removed, she said. Picerne directed questions to Ft. Bragg’s public affairs office. The Garzas didn’t notice any corrosion on the copper wiring on their house, which is the most obvious sign of defective drywall. But Brittany Garza said that while she was pregnant with Jaxson she fainted several times and often had a bloody nose, problems that have been linked to exposure to defective drywall. She said she didn’t have those problems during her earlier pregnancies. Garza said that just before Jaxson was born in October 2010, the icemaker in their refrigerator began to leak and water poured into their living room. Picerne fixed the leak immediately and a couple of days later a contractor arrived to dry out the carpet with a fan. In February, the water heater broke, and the maintenance crew that arrived to fix it spilled water in the hallway and on the living room floor. Some of the water seeped into the walls and into the kitchen, Garza said. The Garzas called Picerne several times, saying they were worried about mold and the health of their children. A maintenance crew arrived a week later, and on Feb. 23 lifted the carpet and placed a fan over it to dry it out, Brittany Garza said. The next morning, she woke up at 7 o’clock and checked on Jaxson. She said he was already awake, so she fed him and placed him in his bouncy chair. Then she went downstairs to get eight-year old Maddison ready for school. When she went back upstairs to check on Jaxson, just before 8 a.m., she said he wasn’t moving. She called the paramedics and began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When the paramedics arrived they began trying to revive Jaxson, while Garza called her husband. Instead of being taken to the hospital with their son, the Garzas were interviewed at their home by CID investigators. Two hours later they were taken to the hospital where they held Jaxson one last time. “Then the nightmare just got worse,” Garza said. When the Garzas were taken back to their house, the CID investigators told them to gather enough of their possessions to last a few days, because they would be staying at a guesthouse that Picerne had set up for them. Before they could leave, however, an official with Cumberland County’s Child Protective Services arrived at their house. “They told us that North Carolina law says they have to remove the children from the premises until my husband and I have been cleared for any wrongdoing because a child died in the house and we don’t know why yet,” Garza said. The Garzas’ three remaining children stayed with family friends for four days. They’re now back with their parents at the guesthouse where the family is still staying. Brittany Garza said she doesn’t want to live on the base any more, but she worries that moving will be too expensive. “I don’t know what to do, because I want to keep my other kids safe,” she said. Correction:An earlier version of this article stated that Chris Grey was a spokesman for Fort Bragg’s Criminal Investigation Command. He is actually the spokesman for the Army’s Criminal investigation Command.
Food sold in recycled cardboard packaging 'poses risk'By Nick Higham BBC News Major brands are taking action Continue reading the main story Related StoriesLeading food manufacturers are changing their packaging because of health concerns about boxes made from recycled cardboard, the BBC has learned. Researchers found toxic chemicals from recycled newspapers had contaminated food sold in many cardboard cartons. The chemicals, known as mineral oils, come from printing inks. Cereal firm Jordans has stopped using recycled cardboard and other firms are to ensure their recycled packaging does not contain any toxic oils. Kellogg's and Weetabix said they were taking steps to reduce the amount of mineral oil in their packaging. Exposure to mineral oils has been linked to inflammation of internal organs and cancer. Government scientists in Switzerland found quantities of mineral oils between 10 and 100 times above the agreed limit in foods like pasta, rice and cereals sold in cartons made from recycled cardboard. 'Frightening' potential Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
End Quote Terry Donohoe Food Standards Agency In one scientific paper they describe the potential for mineral oils to migrate into foodstuffs as "frightening". However, the Swiss food safety authorities have concluded that consumers who eat a balanced and varied diet have no need to worry. In a statement Jordans said that, as an environmentally responsible company which had previously used largely recycled packaging, it had taken the decision to abandon it reluctantly, but felt it was sensible. The BBC investigation found other food companies were aware of the issue - but none had so far followed Jordans' lead. More than half the cardboard used in Europe is made from recycled materials. So-called "virgin board" from newly harvested trees is more expensive and there is not enough of it to replace recycled card completely. The research has been led by Dr Koni Grob at the government-run food safety laboratory of the Canton of Zurich. In one study for the German food ministry last year he and his colleagues tested a sample of 119 products bought from German supermarkets. They found mineral oils passed easily through many of the inner bags used to keep food dry and fresh. More than half of Europe's cardboard is made from recycled materials The longer a product stood on the shelves, the more mineral oil it was likely to absorb. Dr Grob told the BBC: "Roughly 30 products from these 119 were free of mineral oil. "For the others they all exceeded the limit, and most exceeded it more than 10 times, and we calculated that in the long run they would probably exceed the limit 50 times on average and many will exceed it several hundred times." The agreed safe limit for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons, derived from an expert evaluation carried out for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organisation, is a migration of 0.6mg per kilogram. Two effects Studies on rats have highlighted the dangers to health of mineral oils. Dr Grob said: "Toxicologists talk about two effects. One is the chronic inflammation of various internal organs and the other one is cancer." But he stressed consumers would have to be exposed to contaminated foods over many years for their health to be at risk. The Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain's food companies, said the Swiss study was "a good starting point for further investigations" - but not enough in itself to justify discontinuing the use of recycled card. Manufacturers' reactions Nonetheless, some of the individual members of the FDF are taking steps to change their packaging. Kellogg's said it was working with its suppliers on new packaging "which allows us to meet our environmental commitments but will also contain significantly lower levels of mineral oil". The company is also looking at alternative inner liners for its packets. Dr Grob's studies suggest only aluminium-coated bags or those made of certain types of thick plastic are an effective barrier to the migration of mineral oils. Weetabix said it uses 100% recycled board because it is better for the environment, but is also looking at recycled packaging that does not contain recycled newspaper. Like several other companies, it said: "Our data... does indicate that none of our products pose a risk to consumer health". In Germany the government has told the food and packaging industries to take immediate steps to reduce the risk from mineral oils, and is considering introducing mandatory rules. In the UK the Food Standards Agency is doing research of its own: but so far it is only looking at how much mineral oil there is in recycled packaging, not how much gets into the food inside. Terry Donohoe, the acting head of the FSA's chemical safety division, said: "Should there be any evidence from our study - and we will carry out a risk assessment - we will take immediate action to protect the public." Dr Grob and his colleagues say that even switching to virgin cardboard would not eliminate the risk from mineral oils entirely. This is because food cartons are themselves stored and transported in larger corrugated cardboard boxes which are also made from recycled newspapers, and are also a source of contamination. EPA Adds Ten Superfund Sites, Proposes 15
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Ten Superfund sites have been added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List (NPL), and the agency is proposing 15 more additions. The additions to the NPL, the list of national priorities among the known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants, take the number of Superfund sites to 1,290. The EPA says the sites contain harmful contaminants including arsenic, asbestos, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, creosote, dichloroethene (DCE), dioxins, lead, mercury, pentachlorophenol (PCP), polynuclear aromatic hydrcarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tetrachloroethene (PCE), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethene (TCE), and zinc. Since Superfund’s introduction by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 1,637 sites have been listed on the NPL, and 347 of these have been deleted. Another 66 proposed sites are awaiting final agency action. The sites added to the list yesterday are located in eight states and Puerto Rico (see chart).They include locations used for smelting, fertilizer manufacture, mining and other industrial operations, as well as an illegal dump and several sites where the cause of pollution is unknown. The EPA identified a number of companies known to have had operations at the sites, though all of the companies have since ceased those operations or gone out of business. The NPL does not itself assign liability to any party or to the owner of any specific property. With all Superfund sites, the agency tries to locate the parties responsible for contamination. When there are no viable potential responsible parties, the EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Superfund sites are eligible for federal investigation and cleanup funds while the EPA seeks to identify parties responsible for the pollution. The 15 sites proposed yesterday for Superfund inclusion are:
Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved
Background: Chemicals having estrogenic activity (EA) reportedly cause many adverse health effects, especially at low (pM-nM) doses in fetal and juvenile mammals. Objectives: To determine whether commercially available plastic resins and products, including baby bottles and other products advertised as BPA-free, release chemicals having EA. Materials and Methods: We used a very sensitive, accurate, repeatable, roboticized MCF-7 cell proliferation assay to quantify the EA of chemicals leached into saline or ethanol extracts of many types of commercially available plastic materials, some exposed to common-use stresses (microwaving, UV radiation, and/or autoclaving). Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled, independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source, leached chemicals having reliably-detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA-free. In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more EA than BPA-containing products. Conclusions: Many plastic products are mischaracterized as being EA-free if extracted with only one solvent and not exposed to common-use stresses. However, we can identify existing, or have developed, monomers, additives or processing agents that have no detectable EA and similar costs. Hence, our data suggest that EA-free plastic products exposed to common-use stresses and extracted by saline and ethanol solvents could be cost-effectively made on a commercial scale, and thereby eliminate a potential health risk posed by most currently-available plastic products that leach chemicals having EA into food products. Citation: Yang CZ, Yaniger SI, Jordan VC, Klein DJ, Bittner GD 2011. Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved. Environ Health Perspect :-. doi:10.1289/ehp.1003220
Received: 16 November 2010; Accepted: 24 February 2011; Online: 02 March 2011
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Toxic fumes confirmed at Evansville daycare
February 9, 2011
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